'''Alfred Lothar Wegener''' ([[Berlin]], [[November 1]], [[1880]] - [[Greenland]], [[November]], [[1930]]) was a [[Germany|German]] interdisciplinary scientist whose early training had been in [[astronomy]] ([[PhD]], [[University of Berlin]], [[1905]]). He became interested in the new discipline of [[meteorology]] and as a record-holding balloonist himself, pioneered the use of [[weather balloon]]s to track air masses. His lectures became a standard textbook in meteorology,'' The [[Thermodynamics]] of the Atmosphere.'' Wegener was part of several expeditions to [[Greenland]] to study [[Geographical pole |polar]] air circulation, when the existence of a [[jet stream]] itself was highly controversial. He died there of exposure in bitter cold.
Browsing the library at the [[University of Marburg]], where he was teaching in [[1911]], Wegener was struck by the occurrence of identical [[fossils|fossils]] in geological strata that are now separated by oceans. Orthodox theories at the time posited [[land bridge]]s to explain away these anomalies, but Wegener was increasingly convinced that the continents themselves had shifted away from a primal single massive [[supercontinent]], which drifted apart approximately 200 million [[year]]s ago, to judge from the fossil evidence. From [[1912]] he publicly advocated his theory of [[tectonic plate|"continental drift"]], arguing that the [[continent]]s on either side of the [[Atlantic Ocean]] were drifting apart. Recovery from a war wound gave Wegener time to think. In [[1915]], in ''The Origin of Continents and Oceans'' (''Die Entstehung der Kontinente und Ozeane''), Wegener published the theory that there had once been a giant supercontinent, which he named "[[Pangaea]]" ("all-Earth") and drew together evidence from various fields. Expanded editions during the [[1920s]] presented the accumulating evidence. The last edition, just before his untimely death, revealed the significant observation that shallower oceans were geologically younger. The one American edition, published in [[1924]], provoked such hostility that it was not revised.
Many [[geology|geologist]]s ridiculed Wegener for his ideas; noting that he could not explain how continents were able to move. North American geologists were particularly dismissive. Only after the mid-[[20th century]] discovery of [[seafloor spreading]] did Wegener receive credit, as a developer of the [[theory]] of [[plate tectonics|plate tectonic]]s.
The [[Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research]] in [[Bremerhaven]], Germany, established in [[1980]], honors his name.
See also: [[Gondwana]], [[Laurasia]]
==External links ==
*[http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/history/wegener.html Alfred Wegener biography]
*[http://pubs.usgs.gov/publications/text/wegener.html USGS biography]
*[http://pangaea.org/wegener.htm Wegener biography at Pangaea.org]
*[http://www.awi-bremerhaven.de/index-e.html Wegener Institute website (English)]
[[Category:Geologists|Wegener, Alfred]]
[[Category:German scientists|Wegener]]
[[Category:1880 births|Wegener, Alfred]]
[[Category:1930 deaths|Wegener, Alfred]]
[[bg:Алфред Вегенер]]
[[da:Alfred Wegener]]
[[de:Alfred Wegener]]
[[es:Alfred Wegener]]
[[eo:Alfred WEGENER]]
[[fr:Alfred Wegener]]
[[nl:Alfred Wegener]]
[[ja:アルフレート・ヴェーゲナー]]
[[pl:Alfred Wegener]]
[[sl:Alfred Lothar Wegener]]
[[sv:Alfred Wegener]]
This site is not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by the Wikimedia Foundation or any of its affiliates. In fact, we fucking despise them.
|
